A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin' wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney 🙂 Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life - A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects - create~inspire~share.

As part of our “A Month of Thanks” celebration, we asked our readers and contributors to share their stories about why they are thankful for Disney. Here is just one of those submitted. If you would like to share why you are thankful for Disney, please see this article or contact Maria (NDM 130)

My Thanksgiving to Walt Disney World

submitted by: Clarice Fourari

It all started back in the day when I was a spry young 16 year old, scared to audition for the infamous Walt Disney World company. My girlfriends wanted to try out for their summer jobs so I tagged along, thinking in the back of my mind, they’ll never choose me. As it turned out, my one friend was selected to be Chip and Dale, for she met the height requirement of 5’2” and my other friend was chosen as Pluto due to her taller status of 5’7”. I figured what could regular sized me at 5’4” be? Average Joe, is all I thought I was. However, the judges asked four of us females to stand in line directly in front of them, posing from all sides. Low and behold, we were each given various face character jobs! My new friends were Cinderella, Alice, Snow White, and average Joe me got to be the Blue Fairy (for those of you without your WDW degree, she’s the one who turned Pinocchio into a boy).

Clarice Fourari as the Blue Fairy – 1985-86

The adventure began, for it was seven nights a week during the summers of 1985 and 1986, starring twice a night, at 7pm and 9pm; that I had the honor and privilege of waving and blowing kisses to the thousands of visitors who frequented the happiest place on earth. That was truly a dream come true for me during my high school years, and I owe Walt Disney World a great big thank you for allowing me to be a part of spreading the magic that is attributed to Disney.

Now we fast forward to a couple decades and a half later complete with a husband and four children. This time it’s a bump in the road which occurs, (or in this case a couple of lumps in my breast). What appears to be a death sentence in the form of aggressive breast cancer, presenting itself along with multiple surgeries and half a year of chemotherapy, astonishingly becomes a healing, peaceful experience. Our Disney annual passes aid in this journey for it is the Fourari family’s weekly trips that allow for not only me, but my four children to enjoy the many gifts that Disney has to offer in the lines of the most exciting forms of entertainment. Whether it is the Lion King “Festival of the King,” show or Space Mountain, Tower of Terror or Test Track, we are sure to take our minds off hospitals, doctors, needles, and chemo. Life is to be worth enjoying, and we have found that to be true whenever we step foot onto Disney grounds.

It is for these reasons, I want to thank Walt Disney World for becoming a part of the Fourari Family’s lives.

Maria H. (ndm#130)

A Disney blooded, crafty, fun-lovin' wife/mom/organizer/planner, etc who is obsessed with all things Disney :) Maria grew up with the Magic Kingdom and has loved watching WDW evolve into what it is today. A firm believer in the Power of Pixie Dust, she is the owner of The Disney Driven Life - A Community for Neurotic Disney People & a d.i.y. crafty blog, Carousel of Projects - create~inspire~share.